A Miami-Dade lawsuit over a real estate deal gone awry could put a significant dent in NASCAR team owner Gene Haas ‘ Sprint Cup [#14-Tony Stewart] championship spoils. Haas made the winning bid on two multimillion-dollar Golden Beach mansions at a public auction just days before NASCAR’s season-ending race in Homestead. Yet the sellers of the homes, brothers Robert and Steven Fox, say Haas through a proxy reneged on the deal, and in turn forfeited the $1 million deposit that auction rules mandated be paid up front.’He simply refused to sign the contracts,’ said attorney Eric Isicoff, who is representing the Foxes in the suit.’In my 30 years in this business, this is the first time this has ever happened,’ added auctioneer (and Pompano Beach Mayor) Lamar Fisher, who handled the sale. Calls to Haas ‘ attorneys, both in Fort Lauderdale and in California, were not returned Wednesday. A spokesman for Haas ‘ primary business, the machine-tools company Haas Automation, declined comment.(full story at Miami Herald)(1-5-2012)
